This new beta release of RedBook introduces quite a few changes when it comes to configuration and setup. Here's some highlights…h3. Regexp changes
It is now necessary to enter “proper” regular expressions for :select. Proper means between
slashes, like the following:
- /Work Day/
- /mail/i
I changed this in order to support case-insensitive searches using the i switch. This makes queries much
more powerful.
Variables ⇈
A new, interesting feature I decided to introduce in this release is variables. For now you define them inside your rbconfig.yml file, like this:
:var_monday_morning: "monday at 8 am"
:var_friday_evening: "friday at 8 pm"
:var_week_report: ":select :duration :from :%monday_morning :to :%friday_evening"In this way, every time you type in :%week_report in RedBook, it will expand to:
:select :duration :from monday at 8 am :to friday at 8 pm. By the way, completion is supported, so
you'll only have to type in something like :%we and hit
It is possible to define variables as :var_<something> in the rbconfig.yml file and then used them
inside RedBook as :%<something>.
New Operations ⇈
Five new operations have been added:
:blank
This will blank your current log after asking you if you really want to do so.
:restore
This operation will overwrite your current log with the last saved backup. Like with the :blank
operation, you're asked if you really want to proceed or not.
:archive
By typing :archive, the current log file will be archived to your :archives_folder:
directory specified in the rbconfig.yml file (similarly, it is now possible to specify a :backups_folder: for your
logs' backup files).
:dataset
A simple operation to display the messages inthe current dataset.
:dump
This operation will dump the output of the last :select operation to a text file. Useful for saving the
average, total time and duration of a set of activities.
Portable edition ⇈
Some Windows users will definitely love this. I finally found an easy way to run RedBook confined within the current
directory, by using a simple start.bat batch file to set the INPUTRC and HOME variables temporarily to
the path to the .inputrc file and the directory of RedBook executable. This makes RedBook 100% portable and suitable
to be used on USB sticks &similar.
New Development Page ⇈
I decided to move the primary RedBook repository from Assembla to Google Code. Why? Well, nothing wrong with Assembla per se, I still think it's an excellent free service to host your public and private projects, but Google Code is faster and offers only the features I need:
- Public SVN repository access
- Simple-to-use issue tracker
- Very nicely developed downloads section, with download counts, and “normal” filenames.
So here's the new RedBook Development Home:
http://code.google.com/p/redbook/
Additionally I also setup a RedBook Support Google Group, so if you have any question concerning the program, you know where to go!